A non west country folk cider thread

[Alf Tupper]

As a local or is it yokel to Somerset (well about 30 miles north) I find one of the great advantages of living in the West Country is the great array of ciders in the region.

Being exiled in Leeds during the week with work commitments I find most of the bars sell Strongbow (not real cider!) or that Magners stuff that is crammed full of ice??

As cider seems to be an incredible popular word used on this thread (and I salute you all for it!) and the cider bus is a popular outing during the festival it got me thinking that it would be interesting to know what experiences fellow forumers have had at Glastonbury, particularly if they dont normally drink cider.

Also are there any people who live in any other parts of the UK who are lucky to be able to sample the Thatchers or Westons range of loony juice anywhere else that isnt really seen as the West Country.

Oh and one other thing, as this will be my first trip im itching to know if Black Rat is served at the

festival?

I hope everyone has access to a decent glass or two all over our Isles but i dont see it to often on my travels.

Looking forward to peoples opinions/experiences on the growing popularity of the greatest drink on earth

[LRW]

Some Wetherspoons where I live (East Berkshire) serve Westons Rosies. Beee-autiful stuff.

Apart from that - I have to suffer with stongbow / bulmers fizz.

[Alcatraz]

Not aware of Black Rat being sold at the festival I have one bottle of it in my fridge that I've dared touch due to its holiness

[The Dawg]

Hailing from the NW of England I have to say that I am a Real Ale man and have a preference for a number of different Milds or Porters, if I can get them. However, when I am in a certain part of the world around the end of June I am quite clearly a Pear Cider fan.

It's funny really because I rarely, if ever, drink cider at home but when my tent is up all I want to do is head to the Jazzworld.

Gaggin for it.

[Alf Tupper]

It would be a crying shame if a cold pint of BR is not on offer, it is a localish brew as well by Moles.

[IamChappu]

Westons is served at the Wetherspoons here in Kent - lovely stuff it is too!

[niceandfriendly]

[Abbathehorse]

I live in the West Country and it does depress me that this is where the best cider in the world comes from, yet there are still hundreds of people in pubs drinking Magners and other such crap

I recommend anyone in the area to get down Newton Abbot cider bar and get yourself a pint of Diesel! Any drink that has its own light source cannot be bad!!

[al_coholic]

I have been drinking cider for a month now as a warm up for Glastonbury, I needed to get my threshold back up to festie levels again, also spent a week in Zomerset recently tasting the local produce including some stuff from a farm that could have powered the shuttle

[Alf Tupper]

I have been drinking cider for a month now as a warm up for Glastonbury, I needed to get my threshold back up to festie levels again, also spent a week in Zomerset recently tasting the local produce including some stuff from a farm that could have powered the shuttle

[JoeyT]

2 words - Cheddar Valley.

[Craig_G]

Westons is sold by the pint and the bottle at my fav local, The Edinboro castle in Camden Town. It's by far my preference with the possible exception of Brother real festival strength.

I also really enjoyed the rather vicious, cloudy and almighty-hangover bringer called Battle Cider, found a couple of years ago at The Glade festival. :cheers:

[Mardy]

if you're in Scarborough, the Valley bar is amazing, really wide range of beers, and always a few speciality ciders about. it's won the CAMRA Cider and Perry award i think for the last few years

[Alf Tupper]

Westons is sold by the pint and the bottle at my fav local, The Edinboro castle in Camden Town. It's by far my preference with the possible exception of Brother real festival strength.

I also really enjoyed the rather vicious, cloudy and almighty-hangover bringer called Battle Cider, found a couple of years ago at The Glade festival. :cheers:

[Spliffman]

Alf, if you are up leeds way through the week, you might try going to bradford one night and heading to the Fighting Cock..

it should satisfy all your needs...

[Lordscopie]

My second favourite weekend of the year, is, the Reading Beer Festival. It's one of the larger ones, and where theNational Perry & Cider awards are judged. I've judged on a couple of occasions, and get to blind taste 8 Ciders.

The only downside, is that you never know what you are drinking, even after the awards have been announced.

The drier the better is always my preference. Rarely drink cider in pubs due to the selections, however I can be tempted to an Old Rosie once in a while or Addlestons. Nice to see Aspall cider getting more nationwide as I grew up a couple of miles from Aspall in Suffolk.

[Alf Tupper]

Alf, if you are up leeds way through the week, you might try going to bradford one night and heading to the Fighting Cock..

it should satisfy all your needs...

[Squall Moogle]

Theres nothing quite like a drive to the Thatchers shop, buying a case of Thatchers and some Afterburn cheese then getting a pizza on the way home (preferably one with jalipinos, some good sausage type meat). Then when you get home you put a load of Afterburn on the pizza, cook it then have a nice evening with the pizza, a film and good amounts of cider .

I know it's not a cider but anyone else tried Afterburn cheese?

[Spliffman]

Not sure how to take this post Spliffman, the bar sounds like a gay bar with occasional violent outbusts